User blog:Kilmarnock228/Observations about the series
Just had a few thoughts I thought I'd share here on the wiki. 1. Taggerung is the last book in either Publication Order or Chronological Order to be referenced in any books that came after it. :Lord Brocktree and The Legend of Luke are similarly not referenced in subsequently published books, but Taggerung is notably the last book in chronological order to have a reference to it included in a later book. Specifically, the Skipper of this novel is stated to be a direct descendant of Deyna, the title character of Taggerung. Beginning with Triss, no subsequent books have any references to them included in later books; of course The Rogue Crew has the disadvantage of being the last book in the series, meaning there was never an opportunity for it to be referenced by a later work. 2. There was never a book where the Guerilla Union of Shrews in Mossflower served as the focus. :The Guosim have, for the most part, served as allies of the books' protagonists and the inhabitants of Redwall Abbey and Salamandastron rather than as the primary characters of the books in which they appeared. Probably the closest a shrew ever came to being a main character was Marlfox's Dippler, and even he took something of a supporting role to Songbreeze Swifteye and Dannflower Reguba. Had the Guosim ever gotten their own book-which I imagine would have been entitled Guosim-it might have been interesting if we could have found out how the group originated, given that they evidently predated the Long Patrol. 3. Several species or gender members of certain species were not known to have ever occupied certain roles at Redwall Abbey. :Though various roles within the Abbey (outside species-specific titles such as Foremole or Skipper) rotated through various animal species and males or females, there were a few that were left out. Of course, there is also some discrepancy of opinion regarding certain roles, most notably Abbey Warriors vs. wielders of the Sword of Martin. By my own view of the matter, the series never-so far as we know-saw the following: *Warriors **A badger: the Sword of Martin is too small to act as more than a knife for most badgers, and any badger qualified to wield it would undoubtedly also end up being a candidate as ruler of Salamandastron. **A vole **A shrew: in this case, the Sword of Martin has been stated on various occasions to be rather too large for most shrews. Also, a shrew worthy of the sword seems likely to end up serving as Log-a-Log. **A mole: this one I just plain don't get, though admittedly its possible that mole digging claws make wielding a sword a bit difficult, as they seem to favor blunt weapons in most of the books. **A female mouse: though Mariel Gullwhacker briefly wielded the sword, her namesake weapon was definitely the Gullwhacker and she was never specified as being an Abbey Warrior. No other female mouse has even wielded it that we have knowledge of. **A female hare: I don't count Clarinna as a warrior, as she performed a single action with the sword and attributed even that to the influence of Martin. I do count Laird Bosie McScutta of Bowlaynee; while he was not appointed by Martin, he did wield the sword on multiple occasions, and Martin seems to have at least implied approval in his choosing by not objecting to it. **A female otter: Deyna is the only otter to have served as warrior. **A hedgehog?: Orkwil Prink, Uggo Wiltud, and Posybud all wielded the Sword of Martin, but all fairly briefly and only briefly-if at all-in combat. *Abbot/Abbess **A badger **A hare: I'm honestly still a bit bummed that Martha Braebuck didn't become Abbess instead of Abbess Fenna. **A mole **A male otter: the only otter known have served as Abbey ruler was Abbess Mhera. **A shrew **A vole *Recorder **A badger **A hare **A female hedgehog **A mole **A male otter **A female vole *Friar **A badger **A hare: several hares have been noted as good cooks, and of course serve as regimental cooks at Salamandastron, but at Redwall it seems everyone is determined to keep them out of the kitchens. **A female otter **A female shrew *Gatekeeper **A badger **A hare **A female vole *Cellarbeast **A badger **A hare **A female hedgehog **A female otter **A shrew **A squirrel **A vole *Healer **A female badger: Melutar is the only badger known to have served as Redwall Healer. **A hare: I like to think Loamhedge's Martha might have ended up in this role, but it was never stated. **A mole (unless you count Sister Edelweiss) **A male otter **A male shrew **A male vole *Bellringer **A badger **A hare **A female hedgehog **A female mole **A shrew **A male vole *Beekeeper **A badger **A hare **A mole **A female mouse **A shrew **A squirrel **A female vole *Gardener **A badger **A hare **A female hedgehog **A female mole **An otter **A shrew **A squirrel **A vole Category:Blog posts